Mission teams discover realities of life for people abroad

Palisades Christian Academy (PCA), a 60-year-old private Seventh-day Adventist school, has been taking groups on mission trips every other year since 2000, except during COVID, because the experiences are life changing for the students and adults.

Seventh to 10th grade youth aged 13 to 16, plus a few 17-year-olds, have traveled to Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Panama, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru through Marantha Volunteers International.

"I hope that when students return, they have more compassion for people," said Ruth Lenz, seventh to 10th grade teacher who has led the mission trips.

"I love taking students on mission trips, because they grow, stretch, step out of their comfort zone to see new ways of doing things and take their focus off themselves and onto other people," she explained.

The school arranges the trips through Maranatha, whose mission is to do building programs—usually wells, schools and churches—in India, Africa, South America, Central America and the Dominican Republic.

Maranatha describes itself as "a responsive organization that fulfills requests for construction assistance. Each project is carefully considered for need, overall impact on the community, and resources for long-term maintenance and support."

Requests for help come through regional Adventist church leaders.

Volunteers come to build and interact with a community.

"The mission team prays about the destination and project. Then Maranatha matches the team with an assignment," said Ruth.

Because of time, cost and the ages of students, the group usually goes to a site in South or Central America or the Dominican Republic.

For transportation to be manageable, the groups range from 24 to 32 adults and students.

Students raise funds all year, primarily by the group selling fruit and individuals babysitting, raking yards, pet sitting, and sending letters to ask friends and family to donate for the trip for birthday and Christmas gifts.

The students raise $10,000 to $15,000 as a group, paying for the church they are building—$500 to 600 per student—plus transportation, lodging, food costs and excursions.

"Serving people is fun, but we also do sightseeing. This trip we visited an indigenous community and experienced their culture. We also visited Peru Projects, which flies medical missions through the Seventh-day Adventists and has a bakery," said Ruth.

In March 2024, the group of 13 students and 12 adults went to Pucallpa, Peru, to build a church for the 85-member Villa Jesus congregation of the Iglesia Adventista del Septimo and to lead vacation Bible school for students in the community.

The students helped build a church and lead a vacation Bible school (VBS) for local children. Locals, including a translator, helped the PCA group share with people.

When the group arrived, the community had completed the framing, the slab, the barn beams, the rails and the roof—leaving the students to construct the block walls.

"The building crew finished the church building two days early so they helped with the VBS," she said.

With about 140 children engaged in singing, Bible lessons and activities, the VBS crew needed help from the construction team. Lessons and songs were translated. Some vacation Bible school materials were donated by area churches.

"We purchase some materials in country and take some with us, so students have room in their suitcases to bring souvenirs back," she said.

Taffy Hunter, a parent who was the group's devotional leader, led worship every evening on women in the Bible, the Beatitudes and the fruits of the spirit.

A church service at the end brought together the U.S. team and local church community to celebrate.

A few people ask her why they do these mission trips, spending money on plane tickets rather than sending money the people could use to build two or three buildings.

"Some parents who were concerned that their children might be self-centered and disrespectful were pleased that they learned how to act around other people and to be less critical of themselves and others," said Ruth.

"I've had some parents who thought they would be heroes, save people, give them a building and help the children. When they come back, most say they learned that it was not about themselves, but to help and share the love of Jesus. As a leader, it's neat to see people change their lives and focus," she commented.

"I know that the personal contact and experience of giving up for others is life changing. We are so wealthy in the U.S. It is important for us to see people in other places with next to nothing, who are happy, sharing and giving the little that they have," said Ruth.

"When my students see that, it changes their perspectives. People who have never gone, don't understand. It's as much for the students as for the people we meet," she pointed out.

Once in a poor community in Mexico with one-room huts, the students needed to clean cement off their trowels. They had no more cement bags to rip up to use as rags, so they went to a nearby hut to ask for a rag.

"When the woman opened the door to her hut, a student asked for a rag. The woman paused, then tore a little rag in half that she was using to wipe down her small table after eating. She had no other rags in her home. Touched, the student started to cry, realizing the woman gave from the little she had. We can't teach that in a class. They have to experience that," said Ruth.

When students return, Ruth encourages them to share their experiences with people who supported them, including churches that help fund the school.

Some students go to small churches. Some years, students give presentations on their experiences, and other years they share a mission trip video that shows what they did.

Each student helps make the video to share with family and friends, too.

"It inspires others to do something similar," said Ruth. "One of the biggest things I see is students becoming more outward focused."

One parent called three weeks after a trip and asked, "What did you do to my daughter? She used to be focused on material things, like shopping." Her parents used to agree that if she did chores, they would take her to the store once a month to buy a new outfit.

A few weeks after the trip when they went shopping, their daughter was not interested in shopping. She said, "Mom, I have so many things, I don't need more clothes, can we just go home?" The mother said her daughter realized she did not need things to be happy. It was exciting for her and her folks to realize that.

"There are places all over the world and in Spokane where people need help and helping them can raise students' awareness," she said.

For some students, there may be little or no immediate change in their desire to serve others, but Ruth hopes that these trips have an impact at some point in their lives.

For information, email ruthl@pcasda.org or visit pcasda.org.